The Chattanooga Red Wolves have named a former Chattanooga Football Club competitor as their new head coach.
Jeff “Ziggy” Korytoski, who was most recently the head coach at Albion San Diego of the National Independent Soccer Association — which includes Chattanooga FC among its members — becomes the Red Wolves’ third coach going into their fifth season, with all of those as a USL League One club.
Korytoski, who is originally from Springfield, Massachusetts, comes to Chattanooga with more than a decade of experience as a head coach, including stints in Central America and Asia as well as the United States.
In 2022, his lone season as Albion San Diego’s head coach, Korytoski guided the team to a fourth-place regular-season finish with a 9-5-6 record before making a deep playoff run. Albion opened with a 2-0 win against the fifth-seeded Maryland Bobcats, then upset the top-seeded Cal United Strikers 4-2 in the semifinals before falling 1-0 in the final to the third-seeded Michigan Stars FC, who also won by that score against CFC in the semifinals.
Now he gets to take over a Red Wolves club that finished 12-11-7, good for fourth in USL League One. Like Albion, the Red Wolves upset the top seed in the semifinals, in this case the Richmond Kickers, before falling 2-1 in the final to South Georgia Tormenta.
“I’m eager to get started in Chattanooga and guide this team at a pivotal time, coming off the momentous run up to the final,” Korytoski said in a Red Wolves release announcing the move. “We’ll build upon that success and continue to engage and entertain the incredible fans who have cheered the Red Wolves toward victory.”
The Red Wolves started play in 2019 under Tim Hankinson. He was replaced after one season by Jimmy Obleda, who parted ways with the club last month after being suspended by the league in late July due to an investigation into his behavior.
Obleda’s 24-19-18 record with Chattanooga included a run to the semifinals in 2021. Interim head coach Jimmy Weekley took over and helped guide the Red Wolves the rest of the way last season.
“Korytoski has an impressive record of leading teams to championships, and we’re ready for him to get started as we look to win the USL League One title in 2023,” Sean McDaniel, the Red Wolves’ president and general manager, said in the release.
“Coach Weekley led our team to a winning season and a historic playoff run, and we appreciate his leadership as we conducted a search for the next head coach. He’s an important part of our success.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.
Updated with more information at 7:20 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2022.